Pond predators in your water garden? what to do?

The pond in question was a raised preformed pool with a crazy paving surround, perfect for the two cats GetOut and StayOut to bask in the sunshine and pass the time fishing. After I had built the ponds and tested the waterfalls and fountains, I left it for the local electrician/handyman to wire the pumps up to the household mains permanently. When I came back several weeks later for the Clacks Farm first open day of the summer, I was keen to make sure all the ponds looked right and the fountains worked well etc. I was quite surprised to see the same half dozen small fish we had left there earlier on in the year still resident and thriving. GetOut and StayOut had laid off!

Anyway, the fountain pump pre-filter needed cleaning so I stuck my hand in to drag it out. But I got such a belt I thought someone had kicked me in the leg and arm at the same time. That was why those fish had survived - the 'electrician' had wired the pumps in so cock-a-hoot they were making the water live. I can tell you after that I always think twice about sticking my hand in a pool and I think GetOut and StayOut do too, dont you ?

N.B. That was in the days before installation of RCD's or RCCB's was standard practice.

Children

There is no solution to the problems they can cause unless you design the landscape with them in mind. Work with them and educate. But at toddler stage, a child safe pool must be created.

If you have inherited a pool by moving house and you have very young children, fill it in or fence it. Not necessarily permanently, in fact you could still use it to work a fountain feature. But bear in mind that where there is water and children, children generally end up in it and quite often head first. Dont just drain the pool and leave it empty and expect it to stay empty, even if it is made of cracked old concrete.

A demonstration pond showing different styles of bespoke manufactured grids or mesh made by a South West metal welding company for the protection of children from drowning in ponds.

A grid of 4ins galvanised or painted weld-mesh (that is used for reinforcing concrete) hooked immovably into place just below the water surface works effectively if viewed from a distance. The plants will grow up through the mesh quite undeterred and animals can get in and out of the pond quite happily. It is an expensive solution, but a compromise that allows the pond to continue to function undisturbed until the kid population becomes a bit more responsible. (Also see Introduction: Inheriting a pond.)

Mice, Bank Voles, Moles and Rats

These have all proved themselves to be nuisances to someone at sometime. Water voles or water rats are confined to streams and very wet ditches and although regaining a foothold in the countryside with the clamp down on the mink population, it is still rare enough to be no threat at all to suburban pond liners. If you do find evidence of the water voles then despite everything, you are lucky, honest. Otters and barn owls will be about soon!

Evidence that water voles have been here feeding, neatly cut pieces of reed left in a neat pile in a slight clearing in the reeds.

What sort of rodent has undermined you pond is partly irrelevant, it is a problem that will be difficult to eradicate unless the food source is removed altogether, which in the situations where I have come across the problem i.e. rural and farms, it is virtually impossible with farm animals nearby. This is a case where the cause has to be prevented on the frontline. Where they have undermined lined pools and ponds and even holed the liner it may be necessary to put a thin concrete skim underneath eventually.

New pond liners can be laid on sand with a 'lean mix' of cement dust (8-1) in with it. This gradually hardens as it absorbs the moisture from the surrounding earth and will foil any potential mining activities under the liner.

Immediate remedial response against moles has been smoke bombs and vibrators clicking away in the soil, or traps. A solar powered mole scarer called the Solar Moler is available at the time of writing.

Terrapins

The Red-eared Terrapin is becoming established in ponds in the UK because of people releasing them into the wild. As yet they are unable to breed due to the shortness of the summer and the low temperatures. That has not stopped them trying and scientists believe that it is only a question of time before there are breeding colonies in the UK, particularly in the light of global warming.

They live for over 40 years, which is probably why they have been let go. Perhaps people find them difficult to keep for so long or get bored with them. It may be because as adults they become aggressive and can give people handling them a nasty bite, which is capable of carrying an infection. As far as the pond owner is concerned, they will decimate the pond of most forms of wildlife and vegetation and will prove surprisingly difficult to catch. It has been voted as being in the top 100 of the worlds worst invaders, having been native to the southern states and South America, it is now distributed worldwide.

Snakes

In Britain if you see a snake swimming in your pond or lying very near it, it is almost certainly a grass snake. It is completely harmless to everything apart from amphibians and small fish. It is probably nesting in your compost heap. If you desperately need to get rid of it because of an abject terror of snakes, contact a local animal welfare group or conservation body and they may help you to relocate it. The only poisonous snake in the UK, the adder or viper, is much more likely to be found on heath land or on the edge of woodland.

The slow worm often gets mistaken for a snake, but is really a legless lizard. It is not a pond animal but likes the damp and insect populated areas of the garden like the compost heap and piles of leaf mould, wood and stone. Attracting wildlife to the garden with the pond as a focal point will inevitably bring in the likes of this character. So dont be shocked by him, he is real good guy eating woodlice and slugs.

The slow worm often gets mistaken for a snake especially at first sight.